The Dirt Gnome in Stall 1

[Demi Smith]

Demi curled up in the back of the stable, keeping a steady eye on Artemis. Her gaze was unmoving, stoic, even, as she looked at the horse. He acknowledged her existence and seemed to be more or less okay with the fact that she happened to be in the stall with him. It probably helped that Demi had her usual dusting of, well, dust and debris and such. She'd picked up quite a bit from the stall itself too, which probably made her smell a good deal like the animal in question.

She'd come in here to avoid people. People did come and go in the stables and all, but not nearly as much as the rest of the school. Just so long as Demi didn't show up when there were riding lessons or whatever. It wasn't like they'd had horses among her family or whatever. Demi just, well, she got on better with the animals.

Plus, Artemis had a name that sounded familiar to her. She was pretty sure that there had been an Artemis back home, and just being with the horse reminded her of that. Said horse reached down to nuzzle her, and Demi sniffed for a moment, before reaching to pat her. "You get it," she murmured, rubbing the side of his nose a few times. She pressed her head against the animal, taking a deep breath, inhaling the equine smell and thoroughly enjoying the moment.

[Cyril Kingsley]

"I wonder if the new school year will bring in any new club members." Cyril said, speaking to his cat of course that he held in his arms, stroking the Bombay's sleek black coat as she purred. No one was down at the stables besides him at the moment since it was not a club day and at this hour no one really came around why Cyril took care of small task here and there. Making sure tack boxes were put back in their right spot, saddles were put away, and stall doors were locked. The usual with the occasional checking around to make sure no one was trying to do anything bad down here at the stables. He had cameras but since he was not where the computer was he could not know what was going on all around him at every second of the day. Setting his cat down and feeling up her food dish he fell into silence as he started to think.

Maybe I should plan a huge events for possible new members or well just start taking a horse out for a walk around the grounds more often to run into students with them. Cyril thought to himself as he gave Sphinx on last pet and hidden into the barn. His leather boots not making too much noise again the ground as he walked with his hands behind his head. Fingerless gloves on just as he liked and wearing a simple light grey t-shirt. he was planning on heading back to make himself some tea but he heard the sound of a voice. At least he was pretty sure he had heard a voice coming from stall one. A ghost? No, they were not real...right? Cyril figured he was just imagining things since it didn't even sound like words and maybe was just a sound that Artemis made. Still...he should check on Artemiss just to be sure.

Cyril moving careful towards stall 1, after picking up a broom of course, because a broom could swat away a ghost right? Or was that iron? Cyril needed to read up on some ghost tales to be sure but for now held his breath as he slowly peeked into the stall. Blinking for a moment to make sure he was seeing right. Who was this little girl, why was she alone here, and boy was she filthy. Wait...girl? Boy? Cyril thought to himself as he was actually not sure if it was a girl or boy yet, but assumed girl since most of his club members ended up being girls so he figured it had to be a girl. "Hello there. Are you alright?" Cyril asked as he stood in front of the stall door and looked in. Actually pleased to see a young...girl/boy with the very large Artemis.

[Demi Smith]

Demi heard the voice and jumped. She quickly moved to steady the horse, not wanting to see what happened when a large animal freaked out in a tiny space. Demi could note the size difference, and it wasn't too hard to figure out what would happen from there. She glared at the guy, anger practically rolling from her tiny body in waves.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped. She drew a hand up, pulling the various dust and debris up, holding it in a sort of swirling vortex above the hand. "You're bothering us," she looked over at the horse then seemed to realize that she still had a hand stroking the horse's nose. Demi frowned then tried to take a step away. To her consternation, the horse actually followed, her nuzzling again. Demi just let out a sigh and glared at Cyril, clearly blaming him for this situation.

"Plus, I'm a student, and students can totally be here," she affirmed, nodding and swelling slightly. It probably would've looked more impressive if she hadn't needed to bring one hand up to gently stroke Artemis' nose again.

[Cyril Kingsley]

Cyril didn't react to boy/girl jumping since she did seem to be lost in the moment with the horse so would not have heard him sneaking up. That left room for being stated but he could not help but to smile at the fact that she/he actually made sure to steady Artemis, making sure he didn't freak out. Since a person feeling dear and jumping like that could easily be enough to spook a horse. He smile did start to falter a little when he/she was outright glaring at him. He really didn't mean to scare her so bad that she was now upset with him. He didn't move from where he was and blinked at the questioned that snapped out of the little boy/girl's mouth. Well by the tone of the voice he was pretty confident that it was a little girl or a boy who perhaps just had a more feminine voice. All of which were entirely possible, but he was going to settle on her being a girl and hope for the best.

Apparently they must not have come down here a lot or just didn't pay attention to the guy that spent most of his day down at the stables. He did start to blink and got his hands ready to snap if he needed to when he saw the little girl using her powers. Some kind of earth manipulation? Cyril wondered to himself with confusion in his eyes at Demi pointing out that he was disturbing them. He who worked here and she who; while allowed to be here, was sort of here out of the blue and at an odd time compared to when people normally were hanging around the barn. "I work here little bird. I'm the stable hand." Cyril responded back, figuring she should know what a stable hand was and if not then just the whole 'i work here' should have been enough to go off of.

Cyril still was already grinning again to see the large horse step closer and nuzzle the little girl as she tried to move away. She may have been angry with Cyril but she was still being a sweet heart to the horses and that automatically made her okay in his book. Plus if she was in fact a little girl, then that meant she was a very messy little sister but a little sister all the same. "Students can be here until a certain time of course. It is just a little odd as all to see a student down here at this time." Cyril pointed out as he made no moves to go into the stall with her looking ready to fight but with how she was acting with the horse he didn't think she would do anything to put the horse in any danger. "No one is being mean to you are they?" Cyril asked, because why else would a little girl come to hide away from the horses unless she was trying to escape from something that was bothering her.

[Demi Smith]

Worked here? Demi should've guessed. The guy had that sappy look all about him. Stable hand... so he worked here doing stuff. That explained why he was here. In fact, that technically meant that he had more reason to be there than Demi herself. Not that she'd ever let a little thing like that stop her.

The guy kept talking too, talking about how she was allowed here though it was a weird time. Why should Demi care what time it was? She had her own schedule, and that was what mattered. Not this idiot's schedule or whatever. "Yeah, right, mean," she said, snorting and rolling her eyes. "This school's stupid, and all the people who work here are idiots. You guys are all keeping me here, away from my family. So yeah, I'd call that pretty mean, wouldn't you?"

She raised an eyebrow challengingly, though her stance was interrupted by the fact that the horse nuzzled her again. Demi let out a frustrated sigh, turning to give the animal a stern look. She knew that horses had some feelings and sense and all, but this one was just being stupid. It probably just liked her because she smelled like it or something. The whole thing was just... stupid.

[Cyril Kingsley]

Cyril had all the reason to be down here and then some, but he figured the little girl knew that so was not going to bring it up. Plus he had the power to tell her to leave at any moment, but he would not do that so long as she was not hurting the horses. By the way she was handling Artemis he was not worried about such a thing at all. He was worried still as to why she was down here and alone with a horse in its stall in the first place but she was not crying. Normally there would be tears involved if she was really upset, or at least some proof that she had been crying. Cyril didn’t know if he would be able to tell or not because of the amount of dirt she was covered in. His inner need to make sure the little girls were happy and healthy was bugging at him as he thought about just hosing Demi down. A quick bath over her entire body, with her clothing still on of course. It certainly could not have been healthy to be that dirty, even if it was related to your power.

Cyril raised an eyebrow as the little girl just scoffed off his words and then proceeded to pretty much call everything stupid. Ah, so she is in that stage of life. Looks a bit young to be at that stage, but she could just be really small…and super cute. I just want to pick her up and snuggle her and all that dirt covering her. Cyril thought to himself and was practically cooing on the inside at the thought of picking her up and giving her a piggyback ride. Kids liked that still, right? “Aww, I know what you mean but you are just feeling like this for now little bird. This school is here to help you out and keep you safe from those out there who would not appreciate how special you are.” Cyril said as he gave a nod, wanting to go into the stall with her, but remained outside of it for now since she still did not seem like she would be comfortable with him yet.

“Making friends and getting to know people or even animals that you can trust will help out a lot.” Cyril pointed out as he gestured to Artemiss that clearly already liked having Demi around. Cyril going silent for a moment as his blue eyes looked at the younger girl as he thought for a moment. “Would you like to ride Artemis?” Cyril asked after a moment, figuring getting to ride the horse would be even cooler than just standing in the stall with it and petting it. “Or I could give you some sugar cubes to give to him.” Cyril added after a moment, the options of what he could do for the little girl so she could fully enjoy being down here were many.

[Demi Smith]

Demi rolled her eyes as Cyril spat back the same lines she'd heard over and over again. They must've had some kind of book somewhere that told them precisely what they should say whenever they ran into Demi. Or maybe special training: Demi didn't know, and she really didn't care. She just didn't want to hear it again.

Though the making friends thing was something else too. Demi snorted, tossing her head slightly. "I don't need friends," she proclaimed, folding her arms over her chest, "at least not among you people. And I already have a few allies and stuff," she looked over at the horse though. The stablehand had continued, offering for Demi to ride it. The horse met Demi's gaze and she held it. Ride? She'd done that before, sure, though it had been a while.

"Don't want to ride," she said petulantly, shaking her head. "I was just in here to get away from people. It's not like I wanted to spend time with the stupid horse or anything," said horse had nuzzled her again, but this time Demi purposefully ignored him. Maybe that would get him to stop, or at least send the message that she just didn't care what it did.

[Cyril Kingsley]

She most certainly is an interesting one. Cyril thought to himself as his blue eyes remained locked on Demi. She was really so tiny; might have been because she was net to a tall horse, but she just looked so small. Maybe that was why she had such a big personality and had that whole tough girl air about her. She could have very well been a tough girl, which would make him think she was all the more cute and ask to arm wrestle her or something. She snorted and tosses her head about not needing friends which just had Cyril blinking. Everyone needed friends, everyone. Cyril could not think of anyone that was honestly happy with having no friends at all. "You people?" Cyril asked as he started to pout a little. "Do you not like people from the UK for some reason?" Cyril asked, figuring that had to be what she was getting at. Or maybe it was the fact that he had blonde hair and blue eyes?

She did look over to the horse, which of course Cyril noted and wonder if it really was her just putting on an act around adults or people in general because she was scared. That was a logical conclusion and one that he was considering to be the why she was like this. He needed her name, he didn't like just calling and thinking about her as just a young little bird. She at least had allies and stuff, which was way too vague for Cyril to buy. "Allies are like friends." Cyril pointed out since they sort of wore, but more so for temporary things. She turned down getting a ride like a stubborn child would and stated that she was just here to get away from people. It was not like she wanted to spend time with a stupid horse; Demi's words making Cyril smirk a little as he opened up the stall door. The halter and lead rope in his hand.

"You say that little bird, but yet you were all alone stroking the horse when you could have hung out up in the hay or straw if you really wanted to be fully alone and not with some horse." Cyril said as he moved into the stall, reaching out to pet the horse and slip the halter on. "How about at least giving him a walk? Artemis needs to stretch out his long legs a little bit more." Cyril pointed out as he clipped the halter in place and then held out the lead rope to Demi. Smiling as friendly as ever with his blue eyes just lighting up because he was dealing with horses.

[Demi Smith]

"UK?" repeated Demi, her brow crinkling. What the heck was a UK? Some sort of state or something? "I mean you people: the people here, at this stupid place," she waved a hand, before giving him a look that most people reserved for either the mentally ill or aliens with large green heads.

It did fade into a snort and an eye roll as the guy insisted that allies were like friends. That was so the point: they were like friends, but they weren't. Demi didn't even see a point in explaining it to the idiot: He was just as stupid as all the rest, even if he did come from the UK or whatever.

The horse nuzzled her and Demi let out another sigh. She raised a hand, really determined to punch or hit the animal or something. Then she remembered that it was, in fact, bigger than her, and that the guy was likely not to take her hitting a horse very well at all. So instead Demi rubbed the nose, mumbling darkly. The idiot kept talking while she did, talking about how she'd been all alone stroking the horse.

"People don't look down," she mumbled, then, louder: "and I was only petting it because it kept being annoying. But if you want me to walk the stupid thing I'll just do it," she took a few steps toward the exit of the stall, and technically toward the guy. She looked up at him, then back at the horse. "Does he have a leash I'm supposed to use or---wait, he'd have a, thing, reins and stuff, right?" It had been a while...

[Cyril Kingsley]

"Yes, the UK. It stands for United Kingdom, which is the country where I was born and grew up." Cyril informed her, proud of where he came from of course and just talking about it made him think about it, and start to feel a little homesick. He looked passed the matter for now as he tried to figure out what Demi was getting at. Oh, so she does not like anyone here at Bellefonte Academy. Cyril thought to himself as she thought he was starting to understand what the little girl was getting at. "Well, I have only been here for a few months. Does that still make me one of the 'you people'?" Cyril asked, just curious on the matter if it was just the fact of this place or if he had to have been here for a while or something along those lines. She rolled her eyes and let out a snort.

Such attitude for one so young and Cyril felt like using his power on her to put the young on in her place. He did love his little sisters, but he did not handle disrespect very well and had no problem getting back at a student in his own way when they got too bold with him. He would do the same with this little girl if he had to, but for now he just hoped that some time with the horse would get her to calm down over what was really bugging her. He was going to go with her being homesick. Cyril blinked at her mumbled words, just barely making them out. He did understand what she said next about how she was only petting it because it was being annoying. Calling the horse stupid once more but that she would be up for walking him. Cyril just could not get rid of the small grin on his face because he had dealt with s kid like this before. One that called everything stupid and made a big fuss, but deep down they actually wanted to do what was suggested.

Cyril smiled a little more as Demi moved closer towards him and he was already way ahead of her in terms of getting the horse ready. He already had the halter clicked on and the lead rope attached to the halter. After making sure the rope was fully in his hands and not at all touching the ground he held out the lead rope to Demi. "Here you go. Do you know how to walk a horse?" Cyril asked since it never really hurt to ask and he wanted to be sure she would be alright. Walking a huge horse and not knowing what you were doing could end up getting the person and the horse hurt after all.

[Demi Smith]

"People might wanna pick something that doesn't look like 'uk,' said Demi, pronouncing "UK" as if it were a word that rhymed with duck. She wrinkled her nose for a moment, just finding it to be one more stupid thing in this whole stupid world. The question that followed fell right in line with that too: of course he happened to be one of those people. Everyone here was one of those people, especially if they worked for the school.

This person in particular was getting the horse ready. Demi took the offered rope. she gave it a little tug though, soon feeling the horse pull back. Demi frowned, and she moved to tug again, which just made the horse yank even more.

"He's not letting me!" she said, looking at Cyril. She gave the rope another tug and tried to move. Artemis retaliated by not moving at all. Demi growled then, some of the dirt and dust on her body starting to move, obviously getting ready to beat the horse into submission if that was what it took.

[Cyril Kingsley]

Cyril could not help but to snicker a little at Demi’s words and how she was pronouncing the UK. “No little bird. You are saying it wrong. Just say it as if you are saying the letters themselves. U. K.” Cyril explained half expecting that Demi was doing it on purpose, but found it cute either way. The whole need to explain it was just because of his UK pride and wanting her to get it right. His tone was also dropping subtle hints for her to not make fun of it as he gave her a look for a moment. His look quickly went back to sparkly eyes and a friendly smile, because she was just too little and angry-cute to stay upset with at the moment. Cyril pretty much had made up his mind that he was going to try and sway Demi’s view of the school, or at least of him.

Cyril was not so impressed with how Demi was handling the lead rope and clearly Artemis was not in agreement as well. The tall giant was not a fan of being tugged around but many of the horses didn’t like to be treated in any kind of rough manner. Cyril put his finger to his lips at Demi letting out a yell and reached out to stoke the horse’s neck. “Don’t get frustrated. He picks up on that and will start to get frustrated to. You have to walk with him, being gentle, and talking to him. Let him know that you are taking him on a walk, give him a nice stroke, and just start to walk. If you are confident and kind, he will naturally follow you without you even yanking on the lead rope.” Cyril informed Demi, speaking in a calm tone as he continued to stroke the horse.

He of course picked up on what Demi was doing with her power and already had his left hand ready. It would just take probably two snaps and she would be weightless in the air. “I also suggest you keep control over your power. The horses and I don’t take kindly to threats.” Cyril said with a smile still, but there was firmness behind his voice.

[Demi Smith]

"Whatever," mumbled Demi, rolling her eyes. She could call the stupid place whatever she wanted. However, she did react differently to the talk about dealing with the horses and all though. Don't get frustrated, be gentle, it all sounded pretty darn similar to the same stuff that her various trainers and mentors had always told her. It rankle on Demi to hear it now, from someone like that. Still, she didn't see any reason to be mean to the horse, even if it was stupid.

"I am in control of my power," she snapped, her eyes flashing to look at the guy. "If I wanna do something with it, I will." She rolled her hand then, giving it a snap, sending the dust shooting back down her arm where it laid. She gave Cyril a cocky look, including a smile, before reaching to pat the horse. Obviously pleased at not being treated as rough, Artemis relaxed. Demi mumbled something about taking him for his stupid walk, giving the horse's lead a gentle tug.

Soon, assuming Cyril and/or the stupid horse let her, Demi would begin walking Artemis around. She'd reached over to pat him a few times, switching off so that she could do so and still hold the lead, but there wouldn't be much in the way of talking, except for more grumbles from the girl.

At least she had the confident part down pat.

[Cyril Kingsley]

Cyril let it slide for now with how Demi was acting, reminding himself that she was just a kid going through that whole homesick faze. Yet he also did note that if she kept it up too long while being around him that he was probably going to end up doing something about it. He was good with kids for the most part and knew how to do things in order to keep himself from getting in trouble if he really could not help himself with teaching a kid a lesson. He was a firm believer that a kid had to learn to respect their elders and said elders had a right to punish them for their lack of respect, within reason of course. He still kept calm and explained what she needed to do in order to get the horse to walk with her. It was all pretty simple really in Cyril's opinion, especially since this horse was pretty nice on beginners.

"I'm not saying that you can't use your power or that you are not in control in an actual sense of control. I'm just saying to watch how you use your power. You can end up hurting one of the horses and I will not tolerate such an event, even less if it was not on an accident." Cyril said firmly as he just looked right back at the little girl, unfazed at all and was pretty much ready to use his power on her if he needed to. He loved horses and it was pretty much a huge rule down at the stables to not hurt the horses or any of the members and he would not allow it. He did not care how angry or upset a student was, there were better ways to take out their feelings and frustrations. He just kept a close eye on Demi when she gave her little cocky look with a smile. She was most certainly cute, even if he wanted to give her a very rough head rub for her manners; lack thereof.

Artemis moved with the gentle tug and walked out of the stall with Demi, the three of them heading out of the stall and walking down the stable aisle, aimed to get outside for even more space to walk around. Cyril walking on the other side of the horse and keeping an eye on both Artemis and Demi. Pleased that Demi was doing a lot better now and that she was even giving the horse a few pats. She was grumbling but she certainly didn't look like she was outright upset. "You are doing pretty well. Have you walked a horse before?" Cyril asked, always being one for conversation because silence just got weird unless you were watching a movie.

[Demi Smith]

Demi frowned, hearing the warning coming through there. She was tempted to lash out, to show him just how in control of her power she was and how she could totally rock him if need be. He probably had some kind of dopey, useless power anyway, like talking to animals. Okay, that probably wouldn't be quite so useless considering that Demi was next to a giant horse, but that was just super specific. So she just huffed and let the look she gave him speak volumes, even if he did reply with a stupid grin.

Then walking, which suited Demi alright. She very nearly relaxed as she took a few laps, feeling the horse adjust to her and just sort of falling into a nice, easy step that was super relaxing and all. Demi nearly felt herself enter a sort of trance, Flow type state for a bit.

Naturally the idiot had to go and ruin it by talking. "Errgh," said Demi, rolling her eyes, "of course I've dealt with horses before! We had a few back with---with my people and all, because Pan could talk with them and stuff," and a few others, but Pan was the one that everyone knew because, well, he made himself pretty well known. Lived up to the name and all that. Demi rolled her eyes and muttered another insult as she led Artemis. Well, it soon became him leading her, as he seemed determined to head to a specific section of the stall and Demi saw no reason to deny him.